Picture Perfect In workmanlike fashion, the Broncos dispatched the Raiders for their 11th consecutive win, leaving no doubt that they could roll through the regular season without a loss

The Denver Broncos are having a tough time developing any dramain their season. Their victories are anticlimactic, theirpostseason berth predestined. Their perfection has become sopedestrian that even heroics, the kind of things that causestatues to be built in less prosperous times, are reduced tosmall moments. Here's what we mean: John Elway, Denver's mostfamous quarterback-automobile dealer, completes a short pass towideout Willie Green in the first quarter of Sunday's gameagainst the Oakland Raiders and makes the 50,000-yard careermilestone. Now, only one other quarterback in NFL history, DanMarino, has that kind of passing mileage. Yet, this season beingwhat it is for the Broncos, the occasion stirred more comedythan ceremony.

"I'd have liked to have caught that ball," said tightend-stand-up Shannon Sharpe, who has caught quite a few of themin his nine years with Elway. And presented it to him in somemore dignified setting than a locker room? "And traded it for anew car or something," said Sharpe.

Even coach Mike Shanahan, who is nobody's idea of a laff riot,was getting lines off on Elway. Commenting on a second-quartertrick play on which Elway caught a 14-yard pass (he needs 49,939more yards receiving to make the somewhat more elite 50K-50Kclub) and then immediately got smashed by a defensive back,Shanahan expressed his deadpan surprise that Raiders cornerPerry Carter "had the speed to catch John."

Clearly, this is no longer a sentimental bunch, milkingmelodrama from a decade of near misses. Those four Super Bowllosses are a distant memory, those seasons in which the game'sgreatest quarterback was denied his due seem long gone. Maybethat's what happens when you finally win a Super Bowl or maybeit's what happens when you win 16 games in a row. Maybe it'swhat happens when you're undefeated, are a good bet to remain sothroughout the regular season and are scheduled to slide intoanother Super Bowl.

Maybe it's what happens when the AFC West's next-best team comesto town and vaporizes into thin air. Yes, the Broncos wereexpected to beat the hated Raiders, who may have theirshortcomings on offense but also had the league's No. 2 defense.But by 40-14? Expectations are mile-high in Denver, and anythingshort of 16-0 going into the playoffs just doesn't register. Allthat stuff that ordinarily enlivens a season--another Elwayrecord, another win against Al Davis's Raiders--is beneath theirradar. It just seems so small.

Not that you can get a single Bronco to seriously address theidea of something as large as a perfect season. Not even Sharpe,who badly wanted to guarantee last January's Super Bowl victoryover the Green Bay Packers (he was afraid Shanahan wouldn't behis Def Jam self if he did), will run a post pattern on thatlimb. Denver's veterans are well-grounded in cliche, and noteven Sunday's blowout emboldened them. "Bottom line," saysdefensive tackle Mike Lodish, "we're not looking for a perfectseason."

But the Broncos would have to be operating with collectivecataracts not to see one looming. They've already thrown 77points at the two best teams on their schedule (the JacksonvilleJaguars being the other pretender) and face a lineup ofmediocrity in their next five games. Among the remainingopponents, only the Miami Dolphins have a winning record. Andthe Dec. 21 game against the Dolphins is chiefly interesting notfor the jeopardy it represents to Denver but because it's theDolphins' 1972 undefeated record--they played a paltry 14regular-season games in those days--the Broncos are trying toeclipse (page 112).

To think that Denver was regarded as no more than a middlingteam at this point last year. In fact, it was in their 11th gameof 1997 that the Broncos suffered perhaps their mostdemoralizing loss of the season, a 24-22 defeat in Kansas Citywhen Chiefs kicker Pete Stoyanovich knuckleballed a 54-yardfield goal over the crossbar as time expired. Denver still ledthe division by one game but went on to lose two of its nextfive and fall to wild-card status. When the Broncos did get intothe Super Bowl, they arrived as 11 1/2-point underdogs. Thenation expected no more of them than another demoralizing defeatin the game's most glamorous venue.

The idea that Denver can't win the big one seems quaint today,doesn't it? Yet how is this team different from that unreliablevessel of hope from past years? Unless you think Bubby Brister,who has played almost as much quarterback as the oft-injuredElway this season, is going to be the NFL's next 50K passer,these Broncos are arguably worse. Granted, they've got TerrellDavis; the league's next 2,000-yard rusher is a great equalizer.But there's more at work here than just talent.

The players are quick to recognize as much and give Shanahancredit for the Broncos' growing confidence. The Mastermind, ashe's known in Colorado, is in his fourth year as Denver's coachand has, in that time, instilled the idea of perfection to thepoint where it is now company policy. "That's what Mike'sabout," says linebacker Bill Romanowski, "demanding perfection.In every part of the game. You drop a ball in practice, he'spissed off. I had a coach like that once before, in SanFrancisco. Guys that win, in other words."

Yet what makes Shanahan a true Mastermind is that as intense anddemanding as he may be, he nevertheless has constructed anenvironment that's veteran-friendly. It's an odd blend ofenforced discipline and relaxed atmosphere that keeps the starsfrom testing the free-agent market. "We don't practice in pads,"Sharpe says. "This is a country club, a day at the beach, exceptwe don't have sand and palm trees. And everybody in the leagueknows it. This is as good as it gets, and I can't see it beingany better any place else."

This accounts for Shanahan's ability to retain his best players,who are loathe to go elsewhere for more money and burn out onsome coach's idea of work ethic. "I could make more with anotherteam," Sharpe says, "but how long would I last? And how manygames would I win?"

That's the other thing about Shanahan. His Mastermind mystiquehas enslaved not only the local populace but his players as well.By now they believe that their cerebral coach will find in someframe of video exactly what's required to establish dominance."Mike breaks a team down," says Sharpe, "until he finds itsweaknesses. And if it's only one, that's enough."

Lodish adds, "We're all so confident in his game plan that it'stough for us to think of a team coming in here and winning."

This kind of confidence was required, however briefly, on Sundaywhen the Raiders, behind quarterback Donald Hollas, pulled withina field goal late in the third quarter. That was a remarkabledevelopment in itself, given the pedigree of passers involved.You had a guy who was recently earning $100 a touchdown pass inthe Arena Football League showing up the game's most glamorousquarterback--or at least matching him throw for throw.

However, nobody on the Denver sideline was very worried. The wayit shook out, with Davis running for 162 yards (and more, after11 games, than any player in NFL history), and Elway passing for197, and cornerback Ray Crockett intercepting Hollas in thefourth quarter, and defensive end Neil Smith doing the same, andstrong safety Tyrone Braxton getting one of his own, and theBroncos scoring 23 points in that quarter.... Well, what wasthere to worry about? Big plays all around. "That was good; itbeing close for a while," Romanowski said afterward. "Now we knowwe can put a team away."

The Broncos have demonstrated they can do it one way or another.A week earlier, when Elway was still sidelined with bruised ribs,Denver--well, Sharpe, anyway--tortured the Chiefs with so muchtrash talking ("A lot of it unfair," Sharpe concedes) that KansasCity linebackers Derrick Thomas and Wayne Simmons had aspectacular meltdown late in the game, and the next thing youknew the Broncos were the beneficiaries of five personal-foulpenalties on the same drive. In the aftermath Thomas wassuspended a game and Simmons was cut. Good chatting with you,Shannon.

Sharpe isn't the man you want to engage in a war of words. Hiscreepy ability to get under another guy's skin goes back at leastto the third grade, when a fellow student was stumbling over somephonics. "Sounds like, sounds like," the teacher coaxed. "Soundslike Johnny can't read," said Sharpe from the back of the class.He was ejected.

But the Broncos have more going for them than confidence andpsychology. Or even the wisdom and craft of their years. (Canyou believe that Elway's jagged snap count drew the Raidersoffside three times?) They really do have talent. Davis isn'tjust the best sixth-round draft pick ever; he's the best runningback in the game. Elway, no matter how well Brister performed inhis absence, is still a distinct upgrade at the position, evenat 38. His presence may be unpredictable these days; after twomonths of being in and out of the lineup, Elway admitted thelast 30 yards passing seemed to take as long as the first49,970. But his rifled, pad-shuddering passes--three fortouchdowns on Sunday--don't suggest that he's winding down hisspectacular career.

Offensively, Davis and Elway make quite a combination, onethat's got a lot of people spooked. As Raiders running backHarvey Williams says, "The way Terrell is running the football,and the way John is throwing the ball, it would take a miracleto beat them."

That's just the kind of drama the rest of the league is waitingfor the Broncos to develop. But the better bet is pedestrianperfection.

COLOR PHOTO: PHOTOGRAPH BY PETER READ MILLER COVER Believe It! Can Denver Win 'Em All? PLUS John Elway's New Weapon: Wideout Ed McCaffery [John Elway]COLOR PHOTO: PHOTOGRAPH BY ROBERT BECK TOUGH TO BEAT Elway and Davis are the most feared pass-run tandem in the league. [Terrell Davis and John Elway in game]

COLOR PHOTO: PETER READ MILLER STUFFED The Broncos, suspect against the run only a year ago, held Napoleon Kaufman and the Raiders to 49 yards rushing. [John Mobley and Napoleon Kaufman in game]COLOR PHOTO: PETER READ MILLER [John Elway]COLOR PHOTO: ROBERT BECK NICE GRAB Rod Smith, one of Denver's free-agent finds, pulled in six passes for 95 yards and a touchdown against the Raiders.

Join the Club

On Sunday, John Elway joined Dan Marino as the only players topass for 50,000 yards in a career. Only two other top 10 passersin the yardage rankings (below) still play. Then there are theFalcons' Steve DeBerg, who's 13th with 34,081 yards, and the49ers' Steve Young, 18th with 31,575.